In The Clear
by Kisses Reflect
Summary: Caitlin was a good kisser, Stiles thought. So good in fact, that the key and his question slipped through and his head spun with the music and the taste of alcohol. An AU one-shot in which Stiles was still in the loft when the Oni show up.


**Disclaimer: I own none of the characters used in this story. They belong to their creators and are used under permission.**

 **So, my first Teen Wolf fanfic. It's short and (I hope) in character. Let's see how it goes.**

 **Summary: Caitlin was a good kisser, Stiles thought. So good in fact, that the key and his question slipped through and his head spun with the music and the taste of alcohol. An AU one-shot in which Stiles was still in the loft when the Oni show up.**

* * *

Yeah, he'd heard of phosphorous. Theory knowledge was good and everything, but Caitlin's words made him question why there would be glow paint on the key (which wasn't his to begin with) which turned out not to be as straightforward as he'd hoped.

But she was a good kisser and he swallowed his doubt, dropping the key when her cold fingers touched his jaw.

He'd never kissed anyone so heavily. At least, there'd never been any tongue with Lydia. It might have happened with Heather is the Darach hadn't...

Stiles breath hitched for a second. Caitlin was still pressed up against him, but he felt cold all of a sudden. He pulled back, eyes shut tight. It felt wrong. Something felt wrong and cold and –

"What's wrong?" Caitlin yelled over the noise of the party, but he might have been deaf for all it mattered because he barely heard her. There was a buzzing in his ear as though he was being bugged by a fly. He swiped his hand through the air in front of their faces without thinking. Caitlin tilted her head, confused.

"Stilesss?"

He wasn't imagining it. He definitely felt unbalanced, holding onto her arms to steady himself. It wasn't just thinking about Heather, he found himself taking shallow breathes as though he was about to panic, but there was nothing to panic about.

"Hey. Hey, it's okay. Here you go." Something was pushed into his hands and Stiles looked down at the unopened bottle of water Caitlin had given him. He stared at the cover.

 _Finqua_

The brand name of the bottle was dancing. The letters seemed to move around. The Dyslexic problem had come back. Stiles swallowed, dropping the bottle and standing on shaking legs. Caitlin grabbed his elbow to stop him from falling over.

The sickness was back. The dancing letters, the vertigo, the lack of air...

Stiles couldn't breathe.

He clutched his head. The air was cold.

Suddenly, the music stopped. The silence hit him and he became hyper aware of Caitlin holding him against the wall. The letters had stopped dancing. Everything stopped. So did the party.

"GET OUT!" Derek's yell was half roar and people didn't wait for another second before high tailing it. Stiles felt her tugging him towards the exit but he spotted Danny supporting a shivering Lydia and he changed course.

"Go." He told her, nodding and winking when Caitlin hesitated. She was pulled in the throng of people and he lost sight of her immediately. The loft drained itself of the non-supernaturals and Stiles found himself staring at a body of shadow wearing black armor and a wicked mask.

In his peripheral vision, he saw several more dark figures in the room looking at the werewolves.

"It's them." Isaac whispered, touching his ear for a second. He and Allison were supporting Ethan as though the werewolf was weak and shivering.

Like Lydia, Stiles thought. At least she wasn't in the loft with them and the shadow people.

The closest entity turned towards him. Stiles stepped back, dread growing in spades. He could feel the air go cold again.

"G...guys?" He stammered as all the shadow figures took a calculated step towards him.

The claws came out. Scott growled and Derek followed, teeth growing.

Stiles backed up as the figure in front of him took another step. The others turned to face the growling werewolves.

Aiden charged first, ready to bowl into one of the shadow men, but the thing (it? He?) simply sidestepped and grabbed his arm, twisting it and pushing him. Aiden nearly flew into the wall. Derek feinted to the left, clawing at the figure's head and snapping it to the side. There was no crack but the strength should have killed it. Instead the thing simply disintegrated for a microsecond before assimilating from the shadows completely healed.

Derek's look of shock might have been funny any other time, but Stiles found himself pressed against the wall, the thing was right in front of him.

"Scott!" He yelled. It was staring at him. It had no eyes, just darkness.

Isaac was closest. He dropped Ethan's arm and stalked towards them, nails turning into claws in an instant.

The thing seemed to know. It turned around and moved its arm upwards to its chest _to pull a sword out of thin air_. Or rather, out of the shadows. It swung the sword – katana, Stiles recognized – around and everyone could hear the deadly sharpness the blade had as the air whistled.

Stiles slipped out when its back was turned. He reached Allison and helped her support Ethan. Isaac moved back carefully, wary of the sword.

Suddenly, two of the shadow figures caught Aiden. "What – "

"Aiden." Ethan rasped. He was still shivering.

Everyone stared as another shadow figure walked with purpose towards the twin. The fourth shadow thing revealed a sword of its own, brandishing it against Scott and Derek.

Aiden stopped struggling as his face was lit up with a faint yellow light. It was holding his head, looking into his eyes as though searching for something.

A second filled with nervous energy passed by and the thing removed its fingers, swiping downwards. There was a hiss as the mark of a reflected '5' was burnt behind his left ear and Aiden fell to the ground, boneless.

Then, the five figures turned to look at Kira.

Scott growled, crouching in front of her, eyes glowing red. She inhaled sharply, stepping back from the shadow figures towards the pillars.

Shadows, Stiles thought. He turned towards the switch panel by the doors and moved towards it, hitting the master switch.

The loft was flooded with lights. The brightness seared into their eyes and Stiles winced along with them. It was not like the flash arrows the Argents were so fond of using and it did nothing to the sword wielding shadow people as their form barely flickered, stepping towards Scott and Kira.

Derek let his eyes glow, ready to pounce on the nearest one when the five forms froze for a second, turning to look at the large window.

The sun was rising. The slanting rays filtered into the room, competing with the artificial lights and winning. The shadows faded away and the air was warm again.

Stiles let out a gust of air, not relaxing completely, but knowing that it was gone. For now.

Isaac turned towards Allison. "Your dad's twenty four hours are up."

.


End file.
